Vetvittles Science
1. Theory of Nutrition
Everything we know about good pet nutrition today can be traced back to the Balanced Theory of Nutrition (BTN), one of the greatest breakthrough discoveries in the 20th century.
At the end of the last millennium, scientists determined the major nutrients and proportions needed to support a healthy living organism. This is why you’ll see so much competition among different pet food brands, which mostly revolves around offering various protein proportions, carb and fat content, vitamins, and microelements.
2. Food Industry
There are three important things many pet food companies overlook:
- Nutrient composition isn’t so important if it contradicts the natural technology of food processing.
- All organisms exist in partnership with bacteria inside of them (the microbiome), and their health depends on how they manage that internal biodiversity.
- Throughout evolution, natural food—food eaten by mammals throughout evolution before processed foods—contained many regulatory factors that supported their total wellbeing. These factors play a crucial role in supporting animal health, even in small amounts.
3. With Digestion in Mind
We keep digestion in mind as we develop food because we know that it’s a part of a much larger system. Digestion has to coordinate with many other organs and physiological processes to be effective.
The brain, pancreas, liver, thyroid, and other organs all react to signals from the gastrointestinal tract and vice versa. It’s best to think of your pet’s digestion as a cooperative function happening in the entire animal, not just something going on in their gut.
Food passing through the gastrointestinal tract stimulates digestive enzymes produced by certain glands, which then report to other systems about the status of their work. Even emotional behavior acts this way.
4. You are What you eat
Have you ever heard the saying “You are what you eat”? That statement is more true than many realize. Our mental state and emotions are all shaped by our diet, and the same goes for animals.
Neglecting the microbiome can lead to serious health problems. For example, if the polymeric substances in normal food are replaced by ready-to-absorb monomers, it can create dysbacteriosis—an imbalance of the microbiome that causes all sorts of unpleasant digestive symptoms.
The host organism (in this case, your pet) needs to keep the right balance between “good” gut bacteria and limit the “bad” ones. The only way to do that is by eating the right food.
5. Evolution of Nutrition
It’s also important to note that all animals have adjusted to natural food containing a variety of substances through evolution. There are many external substances that even resemble neurotransmitters that impact their health and wellness.
These trace components in food may have different effects on various organisms. Some of them activate neurons in the brain or stimulate the immune system, some have calming effects.
Others can influence urination, blood pressure, hormone production or the functionality of muscles, the skeleton, joints, ligaments, and so on. It’s recently been found that natural medicine can even help animals live longer.
6. Food Supplements
Originally seen as contaminants, now, these parents of natural food can have directly come to influence an animal’s well-being. The effects come to serve a natural part of evolution, and eventually, they become a standard part of a healthy diet.
Replacing BTN with ATN has led to several major changes in the modern scientific approach to healthy eating. One is the necessity of food supplements, especially when processed food has become the main source of nutrition for people and pets.
Food supplement science is an ancient practice. Over the course of thousands of years, humans have found out how to use herbs and other traditional food sources to cure ailments and support their wellbeing. The long use of these remedies has led to empirical support, and now, there are extensive scientific studies backing up the benefits of these supplements.
Research goes on
It’s also important to note that all animals have adjusted to natural food containing a variety of substances through evolution. There are many external substances that even resemble neurotransmitters that impact their health and wellness.
These trace components in food may have different effects on various organisms. Some of them activate neurons in the brain or stimulate the immune system, some have calming effects.Others can influence urination, blood pressure, hormone production or the functionality of muscles, and so on.
Vetvittles approach
We believe that in the 21st century, we will be able to overcome the challenges of researching herbal remedies’ effects on organisms, and it will have a major impact on the science of food supplementation.
Our goal is to help create a healthier, safer way to treat and prevent health issues, and we want to apply artificial intelligence to make that happen.
We created the first line of VetVittles products on this approach, and it’s what will guide us going forward.